Cuixmala

About

On Mexico’s wild Costalegre, where jungle meets long empty beaches, Cuixmala rises like a mirage in saffron yellow. The great domed palace was built in the 1980s by financier and bon vivant Sir James Goldsmith as a private retreat, with the sort of budgetary restraint usually associated with emperors. Today, guests sleep inside that fantasy. Arrival already sets the tone. Fly into Playa de Oro International Airport, then drive roughly ninety minutes through increasingly untamed scenery. By the time the gates appear, the outside world feels like an administrative error. What follows is wonderfully excessive. Suites and casitas are vast, often dramatically so, with soaring ceilings, tiled terraces, private pools and interiors that favour confidence over caution. This is luxury with a pulse. Neutral tones were politely declined. Then there is the estate itself: some 30,000 acres of protected land, lagoons, coastline and dry forest tied to the Chamela Cuixmala Biosphere Reserve. Zebras and elands roam parts of the grounds, which is not a sentence many hotels inspire. Sea turtles nest on nearby beaches. Organic farms supply much of the kitchen, where menus lean fresh, Mexican and ingredient driven rather than showy. Service is warm, though the scale of the property means this is better suited to romantics than clock watchers. Guests seeking nightlife and restaurant hopping should look elsewhere. Those wanting privacy, horseback rides on near empty sands, architecture with swagger and the rare pleasure of feeling deliciously far away may become dangerously attached.